What
is PERL?
It’s a highly dynamic, fully capable
Web programming language and is compatible with just about every
single browser ever invented, it’s lightweight, fast, and almost
never, ever crashes? Neither Microsoft nor Sun is hyping it,
yet everyone in the know is using it. It’s not a buzzword like
JavaScript or ActiveX. It’s been a proven technology sense the
beginning of the web. Until now only hardcore Web developers,
have even heard of Practical Extraction and Report Language,
or "perl."
What
is CGI?
Well start with a little clarification
about the difference between CGI and perl. CGI refers to Common
Gateway Interface, a means by which Web servers talk to external
programs, which in turn send processed results back to the server,
which then sends them to you. CGI programs can be written in
any programming language, but are most frequently written in
perl or C++.
When
Would I Use Perl?
The biggest difference between
using perl/cgi and a solution like JavaScript is that perl does
its work on the server side, rather than inside the browser.
After a perl script runs, its results – usually in HTML format
– are sent back to the browser as a complete document. Peril's
advantages are that it can do heavy lifting on fast machines,
it can process information that resides on the server itself,
and because it returns completed HTML documents, doesn't require
any special plug-ins or capabilities on the part of the user.
That's why things like search engines often use perl – the searchable
database resides on the server, not on your machine. As its
name implies, Perl also happens to excel at text processing.
Perl is also usually behind the
scenes at sites that include page-hit counters, ad banners,
guestbooks, message boards, online forms, interactive databases,
and more.
Where
can i find FREE Perl code?
You can find all you need at the
following page:
CLICK HERE
Why
Haven't I Heard More About Perl?
It's pretty simple really. No one
makes money from perl. It is freeware. Although it's been powering
the web for years, it's really not to any ones advantage to
let the world know about it. However, in spite of all this Perl
continues to gain acceptance across the web.
Another reason you may no be the
aware of perl is that it grew up on Unix. It grew up right long
side of the Internet, which is probably why it's such a nice
fit.